Impact of mothers' IPV-PTSD on their capacity to predict their child's emotional comprehension and its relationship to their child's psychopathology

Background: Previous studies demonstrated that when the violence-exposed child becomes a mother and interacts with her own child during early sensitive periods for social-emotional development, she may have difficulties providing sensitive responsiveness to the child's emotional communication. Such difficulties place the child's development of emotional comprehension (EC) and related self-regulation at risk. The aim of this study was to examine how mothers' interpersonal violence-related posttraumatic disorder (IPV-PTSD) would affect their children's EC and their own ability to predict their children's EC. We also investigated how mothers' predictive ability would correlate with child psychopathology. Methods: Sixty-one mother-child dyads (36 with IPV-PTSD) participated in this study. Children's (mean age = 7.0 years, SD = 1.1) EC was assessed with the Test of Emotion Comprehension (child TEC) and their psychopathology as reported by the mother was assessed with the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and as evaluated by a clinician using selected modules of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS). Mothers were measured for IPV-PTSD with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and for their capacity to predict their child's emotional comprehension (mother-responding-as-child TEC; mTEC). Results: We found no significant between-group differences in children's level of EC. Maternal PTSD was associated with lower scores on the mTEC, however. Reduced maternal scores on the mTEC were significantly associated with maternal report of increased aggressive child behaviour and with depression symptoms on the K-SADS. Further, scores on the mTEC interacted with maternal report of child aggression on child oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms on the K-SADS. Conclusion: These findings support that improving maternal emotional comprehension may help reduce child risk for psychiatric morbidity in this population

Development and evaluation of a cancer-related fatigue patient education program: protocol of a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and its impact on patients' quality of life has been an increasing subject of research. However, in Germany there is a lack of evidence-based interventions consistent with the multidimensional character of fatigue. The objective of this study is to develop and evaluate a self-management program for disease-free cancer patients to cope with CRF.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Based on evidence extracted from a literature review, a curriculum for the self-management program was elaborated. The curriculum was reviewed and validated by an interdisciplinary expert group and the training-modules will be pretested with a small number of participants and discussed in terms of feasibility and acceptance.</p> <p>To determine the efficacy of the program a randomised controlled trial will be carried out: 300 patients will be recruited from oncological practices in Bremen, Germany, and will be allocated to intervention or control group. The intervention group participates in the program, whereas the control group receives standard care and the opportunity to take part in the program after the end of the follow-up (waiting control group). Primary outcome measure is the level of fatigue, secondary outcome measures are quality of life, depression, anxiety, self-efficacy and physical activity. Data will be collected before randomisation, after intervention, and after a follow-up of 6 months.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Because there are no comparable self-management programs for cancer survivors with fatigue, the development of the curriculum has been complex; therefore, the critical appraisal by the experts was an important step to validate the program and their contributions have been integrated into the curriculum. The experts appreciated the program as filling a gap in outpatient cancer care.</p> <p>If the results of the evaluation prove to be satisfactory, the outpatient care of cancer patients can be broadened and supplemented.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials NCT00552552</p

Evidence of the Generation of Isosaccharinic Acids and Their Subsequent Degradation by Local Microbial Consortia within Hyper-Alkaline Contaminated Soils, with Relevance to Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste Disposal

The contamination of surface environments with hydroxide rich wastes leads to the formation of high pH (>11.0) soil profiles. One such site is a legacy lime works at Harpur Hill, Derbyshire where soil profile indicated in-situ pH values up to pH 12. Soil and porewater profiles around the site indicated clear evidence of the presence of the α and β stereoisomers of isosaccharinic acid (ISA) resulting from the anoxic, alkaline degradation of cellulosic material. ISAs are of particular interest with regards to the disposal of cellulosic materials contained within the intermediate level waste (ILW) inventory of the United Kingdom, where they may influence radionuclide mobility via complexation events occurring within a geological disposal facility (GDF) concept. The mixing of uncontaminated soils with the alkaline leachate of the site resulted in ISA generation, where the rate of generation in-situ is likely to be dependent upon the prevailing temperature of the soil. Microbial consortia present in the uncontaminated soil were capable of surviving conditions imposed by the alkaline leachate and demonstrated the ability to utilise ISAs as a carbon source. Leachate-contaminated soil was sub-cultured in a cellulose degradation product driven microcosm operating at pH 11, the consortia present were capable of the degradation of ISAs and the generation of methane from the resultant H2/CO2 produced from fermentation processes. Following microbial community analysis, fermentation processes appear to be predominated by Clostridia from the genus Alkaliphilus sp, with methanogenesis being attributed to Methanobacterium and Methanomassiliicoccus sp. The study is the first to identify the generation of ISA within an anthropogenic environment and advocates the notion that microbial activity within an ILW-GDF is likely to influence the impact of ISAs upon radionuclide migration

Simulations of lattice animals and trees

The scaling behaviour of randomly branched polymers in a good solvent is studied in two to nine dimensions, using as microscopic models lattice animals and lattice trees on simple hypercubic lattices. As a stochastic sampling method we use a biased sequential sampling algorithm with re-sampling, similar to the pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method (PERM) used extensively for linear polymers. Essentially we start simulating percolation clusters (either site or bond), re-weigh them according to the animal (tree) ensemble, and prune or branch the further growth according to a heuristic fitness function. In contrast to previous applications of PERM, this fitness function is {\it not} the weight with which the actual configuration would contribute to the partition sum, but is closely related to it. We obtain high statistics of animals with up to several thousand sites in all dimension 2 <= d <= 9. In addition to the partition sum (number of different animals) we estimate gyration radii and numbers of perimeter sites. In all dimensions we verify the Parisi-Sourlas prediction, and we verify all exactly known critical exponents in dimensions 2, 3, 4, and >= 8. In addition, we present the hitherto most precise estimates for growth constants in d >= 3. For clusters with one site attached to an attractive surface, we verify the superuniversality of the cross-over exponent at the adsorption transition predicted by Janssen and Lyssy. Finally, we discuss the collapse of animals and trees, arguing that our present version of the algorithm is also efficient for some of the models studied in this context, but showing that it is {\it not} very efficient for the `classical' model for collapsing animals.Comment: 17 pages RevTeX, 29 figures include

On weak vs. strong universality in the two-dimensional random-bond Ising ferromagnet

We address the issue of universality in two-dimensional disordered Ising systems, by considering long, finite-width strips of ferromagnetic Ising spins with randomly distributed couplings. We calculate the free energy and spin-spin correlation functions (from which averaged correlation lengths, $\xi^{ave}$, are computed) by transfer-matrix methods. An {\it ansatz} for the size-dependence of logarithmic corrections to $\xi^{ave}$ is proposed. Data for both random-bond and site-diluted systems show that pure system behaviour (with $\nu=1$) is recovered if these corrections are incorporated, discarding the weak--universality scenario.Comment: RevTeX code, 4 pages plus 2 Postscript figures; to appear in Physical Review B Rapid Communication

Universality, frustration and conformal invariance in two-dimensional random Ising magnets

We consider long, finite-width strips of Ising spins with randomly distributed couplings. Frustration is introduced by allowing both ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions. Free energy and spin-spin correlation functions are calculated by transfer-matrix methods. Numerical derivatives and finite-size scaling concepts allow estimates of the usual critical exponents $\gamma/\nu$, $\alpha/\nu$ and $\nu$ to be obtained, whenever a second-order transition is present. Low-temperature ordering persists for suitably small concentrations of frustrated bonds, with a transition governed by pure--Ising exponents. Contrary to the unfrustrated case, subdominant terms do not fit a simple, logarithmic-enhancement form. Our analysis also suggests a vertical critical line at and below the Nishimori point. Approaching this point along either the temperature axis or the Nishimori line, one finds non-diverging specific heats. A percolation-like ratio $\gamma/\nu$ is found upon analysis of the uniform susceptibility at the Nishimori point. Our data are also consistent with frustration inducing a breakdown of the relationship between correlation-length amplitude and critical exponents, predicted by conformal invariance for pure systems.Comment: RevTeX code for 10 pages, 9 eps figures, to appear in Physical Review B (September 1999

Charged domain walls as quantum strings living on a lattice

A generic lattice cut-off model is introduced describing the quantum meandering of a single cuprate stripe. The fixed point dynamics is derived, showing besides free string behavior a variety of partially quantum disordered phases, bearing relationships both with quantum spin-chains and surface statistical physics.Comment: 22 page, 17 figure

Methods to study splicing from high-throughput RNA Sequencing data

The development of novel high-throughput sequencing (HTS) methods for RNA (RNA-Seq) has provided a very powerful mean to study splicing under multiple conditions at unprecedented depth. However, the complexity of the information to be analyzed has turned this into a challenging task. In the last few years, a plethora of tools have been developed, allowing researchers to process RNA-Seq data to study the expression of isoforms and splicing events, and their relative changes under different conditions. We provide an overview of the methods available to study splicing from short RNA-Seq data. We group the methods according to the different questions they address: 1) Assignment of the sequencing reads to their likely gene of origin. This is addressed by methods that map reads to the genome and/or to the available gene annotations. 2) Recovering the sequence of splicing events and isoforms. This is addressed by transcript reconstruction and de novo assembly methods. 3) Quantification of events and isoforms. Either after reconstructing transcripts or using an annotation, many methods estimate the expression level or the relative usage of isoforms and/or events. 4) Providing an isoform or event view of differential splicing or expression. These include methods that compare relative event/isoform abundance or isoform expression across two or more conditions. 5) Visualizing splicing regulation. Various tools facilitate the visualization of the RNA-Seq data in the context of alternative splicing. In this review, we do not describe the specific mathematical models behind each method. Our aim is rather to provide an overview that could serve as an entry point for users who need to decide on a suitable tool for a specific analysis. We also attempt to propose a classification of the tools according to the operations they do, to facilitate the comparison and choice of methods.Comment: 31 pages, 1 figure, 9 tables. Small corrections adde

Hypnosis for hot flashes among postmenopausal women study: A study protocol of an ongoing randomized clinical trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hot flashes are a highly prevalent problem associated with menopause and breast cancer treatments. The recent findings from the Women's Health Initiative have important implications for the significance of a non-hormonal, mind-body intervention for hot flashes in breast cancer survivors. Women who take hormone therapy long-term may have a 1.2 to 2.0 fold increased risk of developing breast cancer. In addition, it is now known that hormone therapy with estrogen and progestin is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Currently there are limited options to hormone replacement therapy as non-hormonal pharmacological agents are associated with only modest activity and many adverse side effects. Because of this there is a need for more alternative, non-hormonal therapies. Hypnosis is a mind-body intervention that has been shown to reduce self-reported hot flashes by up to 68% among breast cancer survivors, however, the use of hypnosis for hot flashes among post-menopausal women has not been adequately explored and the efficacy of hypnosis in reducing physiologically measured hot flashes has not yet been determined.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>A sample of 180 post-menopausal women will be randomly assigned to either a 5-session Hypnosis Intervention or 5-session structured-attention control with 12 week follow-up. The present study will compare hypnosis to a structured-attention control in reducing hot flashes (perceived and physiologically monitored) in post-menopausal women in a randomized clinical trial. Outcomes will be hot flashes (self-report daily diaries; physiological monitoring; Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); anxiety visual analog scale (VAS rating); depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), sexual functioning (Sexual Activity Questionnaire), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) and cortisol.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This study will be the first full scale test of hypnosis for hot flashes; one of the first studies to examine both perceived impact and physiologically measured impact of a mind-body intervention for hot flashes using state-of-the-art 24 hour ambulatory physiological monitoring; the first study to examine the effect of hypnosis for hot flashes on cortisol; and the first investigation of the role of cognitive expectancies in treatment of hot flashes in comparison to a Structured-Attention Control.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>This clinical trial has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01293695">NCT01293695</a>.</p